Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus herbaceus

Lemmon's ceanothus

céanothe á feuilles étroites, inland Jersey tea, Jersey tea, New Jersey tea, prairie redroot
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1 m. Stems ascending to spreading, not rooting at nodes; branchlets pale green to grayish green and glaucous, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible to ± rigid, sparsely villosulous. Shrubs, deciduous, 0.6–1 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets green, brown, or reddish, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible, ± appressed-puberulent or villosulous, glabrescent.
Leaves

petiole 2–6 mm;

blade flat, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 13–35 × 6–15 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins serrulate to denticulate most of length, not revolute, not wavy, teeth 34–45, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green to grayish green and glaucous, villosulous, especially on veins, adaxial surface green, strigillose; pinnately veined or weakly 3-veined from base.

petiole 2–6(–10) mm;

blade not aromatic, flat, usually elliptic to lanceolate, sometimes ovate or oblanceolate, (20–)25–70 × 10–30 mm, herbaceous, not resinous, base cuneate to rounded, margins serrate to serrulate, teeth (37–)45–71, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, glabrous or puberulent, especially on veins, adaxial surface dark green, dull, villosulous or glabrate; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, umbel-like to racemelike, 2–6.5 cm.

terminal, umbel-like, globose to hemispheric, 4–8 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary white.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

3–5 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth, usually not crested, sometimes weakly crested near apex.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus herbaceus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Mar–Aug.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Open rocky areas or on sandy soils, slopes and bluffs in shrublands, prairies, forests.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 10–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; CO; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NH; NM; NY; OH; OK; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WY; MB; ON; QC; Mexico (Coahuila)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus lemmonii occurs in the inner North Coast Ranges, Klamath Mountains, and the western slope of the Cascade Range and northern Sierra Nevada. H. McMinn (1944) reported putative hybrids with C. foliosus, C. integerrimus, and C. oliganthus var. sorediatus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ceanothus herbaceus is an older name than C. ovatus, which has been used widely in botanical and horticultural literature (G. K. Brizicky 1964c). Plants with persistently puberulent leaves occur principally east of the Mississippi River Valley and have been called var. pubescens, but the extent of intergradation occurs over a broad geographic area and deserves further study (N. C. Coile 1988). Putative hybrids between C. herbaceus and C. fendleri in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains were named C. ×subsericeus Rydberg.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 82.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus
Sibling taxa
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, C. lemmonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Synonyms C. herbaceus var. pubescens, C. ovatus, C. ovatus var. pubescens
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) Rafinesque: Med. Repos., hexade 2, 5: 360. (1808)
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Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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